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SKK Migas urges INPEX to speed up Masela LNG development
Indonesia's SKK Migas is pushing Japan's INPEX to accelerate development of the Masela Abadi LNG project so it goes onstream as scheduled in late 2029, if not earlier, following decades of delays since the initial contract was inked in 2011.
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SKK Migas head Dwi Soetjipto (center) and INPEX Asia projects vice president Akihiro Watanabe (left) attend an event in Jakarta on Dec. 28, 2023 to launch the Masela Abadi LNG project management team. (JP/Aditya Hadi/-)
T
he Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) has urged Masela Block operator INPEX to expedite development of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, in view of the project’s initial shipment scheduled for the first quarter of 2030.
“We are aware that most oil and gas projects in Indonesia usually become delayed. We want this project to be on time, even ahead of schedule. If not us, who else [will do it]?” SKK Migas head Dwi Soetjipto said on Thursday at an event to kick off the Masela Abadi LNG project management team.
Dwi also asked the team to conduct a detailed analysis on potential ways to accelerate the project, noting that forestland acquisition, for example, might be completed in 2024 rather than in 2025 as scheduled.
“I still cannot accept that [the acquisition] process should take two years. For a [national] strategic project, that is too long. If we can speed it up, that will provide a significant time allowance for other processes,” he said.
Dwi said the project could forfeit US$5 billion in revenue if it were delayed by a year. In addition, a year’s delay would result in an extra cost of $1 billion in loan interest as well as in other items, such as wages.
Read also: RI approves $34.74 billion Masela Block investment plan
Akihiro Watanabe, Asia projects vice president at Japanese oil and gas giant INPEX, explained that the project’s schedule was based on a general estimate that it would take two years for front-end engineering design (FEED) and another four to five years for construction. However, he acknowledged SKK Migas’ request to accelerate the project and vowed it would be completed on time.
